Finger guard



Nov. 19, 1968 R. A. MILLER FINGER GUARD Filed sept. 25. 1967 `INVENTOR. ROBERT A. MILLER ATTOR N EYS United States Patent O 3,411,246 FINGER GUARD Robert A. Miller, Plainville, Conn., assignor to The Stanley Works, New Britain, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Filed Sept. 25, 1967, Ser. No. 670,183 Claims. (Cl. 49-493) ABSTRACT 0F THE DISCLOSURE A finger guard preassembly for sliding door panels constructed from elongated extruded stock components is readily preassembled and mounted on a split door jamb in such a manner as to conceal the mounting and securing members. The finger guard preassembly consists of a twopiece mounting bracket having elongated side channels for retainably receiving a ihollow finger .guard strip which fully overlies and conceals all of the bracket. The finger guard is fully preassembled prior to mounting of the jamb while the mounting bracket is adapted to be retained by the jamb and preferably secured thereto in a simple and facile manner.

The present invention relates to finger guards for sliding doors and the like. More particularly, the present invention is concerned with jamb mounted finger guards used in conjunction with sliding door panels for preventing bodily injury or damage to fingers or other items which might happen to :be against a door or panel as it slides open.

An object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved preassembled finger guard construction of the type described capable of rapid and facile installation on existing extruded door jambs in such a manner as to completely conceal the finger guard securing fasteners and thereby present a clean, neat and pleasing appearance.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved finger guard strip of the type described 'whioh can be constructed of easily fabricated, extruded components adapted to be readily and easily preassembled into a secure, simply installed unit with a minimum of cutting or drilling operations, each component of the unit being held in its properly aligned position throughout its entire length.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved finger guard construction of the type described which additionally functions as a weatherstrip seal while exhibiting a sturdy and durable yet liexible construction adapted for prolonged and reliable operation.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of -parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter lset forth and the scope of the application which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partly in section, showing a portion of the preassembled finger guard strip of the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a `sectional View of the finger guard strip of FIG. l mounted on a door jarnlb, the figure additionally illustrating in phantom the position of the finger guard during the installation of the guard on the jamb.

Referring now to the drawing in greater detail, there is shown an embodiment of the preassembled finger guard, generally designated by the numeral 10, comprised of a two-piece or split mounting bracket 12 securely clamping a resilient, elongated finger guard strip 14 throughout a substantial portion of its length. For purposes of illustration a preassembled guard 10 is mounted on each jamb element 16 of a split door jamb in such a manner that the bulk of each assembly extends inwardly from the side 18 of the jamb toward the door panel 20 which slides between the jamb elements. As shown, only a minor portion of the preassembly 10 covers part of the opening dening face 22 of the jamb element.

The finger guard strip 14 of the preassembly is preferably formed as a vinyl extrusion consisting of an elongated convex canopy portion 24 of semicircular cross section having a pair of aligned elongated retaining flanges 26, 28 extending inwardly from opposite sides of the elongated canopy portion at its base. The opposed flanges 26, 28 are each provided with enlarged, generally cylindrical terminal beads 30, 32, respectively, which assure positive interlocking engagement with the mounting bracket 12. Depending from the canopy portion 24 adjacent the longitudinally extending flange 26 is an integral elongated cover flap 36 having a terminal shoulder 38 contacting the face 22 of the jamb and completely enclosing the portion of bracket 12 which contacts the face of the jamb. As will be explained in greater detail hereinafter, the cover tiap 36 is of sufficient fiexibility to permit access to the underlying portion of the mounting bracket 12 while at the same time presenting a neat, clean and pleasing external appearance.

In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention, the preassembled finger guard 10 is provided with a weather strip or seal for excluding undesirable side drafts around the door. Accordingly, the domelike canopy portion 24 of the strip 14 is provided at its apex with a recessed channel 40 extending along the entire length of the finger guard and forming a seat for receiving the elongated weather strip member 42.

The two-piece mounting bracket 12 of the preassembly 10 which clamps the finger guard strip 14 throughout substantially its entire length consists of a mating pair of extruded plates-a mounting plate 44 for securing the preassembly on the lframe element 16 and a guard retaining or clamping plate 46 for maintaining the strip 14 in its clamped position within the preassembly. The generally rectangular plates 44, 46 are assembled in parallel overlying relationship and are assured of accurate, aligned assembly by the elongated, centrally located ridges 48 and mating notches S0 carried by the respective plates. Each of the plates 44, 46 is provided with a pair of longitudinally extending, generally rectangular depressions 52 spaced inwardly from their respective longitudinal edges and joined thereto by serrated recesses 54. Thereby, upon Imating assembly of the plates there is vformed by the depressions 52 a pair of internal, longitudinally extending cavities having restricted serrated channelways leading into the cavities from the longitudinal sides of the bracket 12. The channelways formed by the recesses 54 receive and compressively clamp the inwardly projecting anges 26, 28 of the strip 14 while the cylindrical terminal beads 30, 32 are held in interlocked assembly within the mounting bracket 12 by the longitudinal cavities formed by the depressions 52.

The jamb-contacting mounting plate 44 of the bracket 12 is provided with an integral, longitudinally extending mounting arm 60 projecting outwardly from one longitudinal edge of the mounting plate at substantially a right angle thereto. The arm 60 has a fiat interior surface 62 which rests against the face 22 of the jamb element 16 and an exterior surface 64 provided with a longitudinal channel 66 in the nature of a counter sink for facilitating attachment of the preassembled finger guard 10 on the jamb. The mounting plate 44 is additionally provided with an elongated mounting hook 68 in spaced parallel relationship to the arm 60 which it faces. As best shown in FIG. 2 the mounting plate 44 is further provided with an elongated counter sink or channel 70 similar to channel 66. The channel 70 is located along the plates longitudinal center line intermediate the arm 60 and hook 68, thereby enabling the secure clamping of the plates 44, 46 by a fastener 72 while obviating the protrusion of the head 74 of the fastener which might otherwise contact the side 18 of the jamb element 16 and interfere with the flush mounting of the linger guard on the door jamb.

As mentioned hereinbefore, the two piece mounting bracket 12 is composed of generally rectangular extruded plates. These plates are formed as extruded metal pieces such as the preferred extruded aluminum pieces which provide a desirable sturdy and rugged construction combined with the well-known lightness of weight and ease of handling. The linger guard 14, on the other hand, is preferably formed of a suitable plastic material which can be easily formed into the elongated, hollow canopy construction desired. Accordingly, materials such as extruded vinyl plastics are preferred although natural or synthetic rubbers as well as various other plastics exhibiting the same general characteristics may also be utilized.

As will be appreciated, the linger guard strip 14 is readily assembled on the mounting bracket 12 by placing the generally cylindrical beads 30, 32 in the depression 52 of plate 46 with the side flanges 26, 28 lying within the serrated recesses 54. The bracket plate 44 is placed over the anges and in intimate aligned contact with plate 46, the ridges 48 mating with the notches 50 in the plate 46. The bracket is securely fastened by means of the fastener 72 extending through a suitable aperture 76 formed in the plates in alignment with the bottom of the counter sink 70. As the fastener 72 is tightened the serrations in recesses 54 will compressively engage the flanges 26, 28 to clamp the linger guard in firm assembled position while the beads 30, 32, due to their enlarged cross section, will provide interference locking of the strip 14 preventing the anges from being accidentally pulled away from the bracket. As depicted in phantom in FIG. 2, the preassembled linger guard construction is then mounted on the door jamb element 16 by initially looping the mounting hook 68 over a longitudinal edge 78 of jamb side 18 and pivoting the entire preassembled construction using the hook 68 as a pivot so as to bring the flat interior surface 62 of the mounting arm 60 into abutting engagement with the face 22 of the jamb element 16. It will be appreciated that the hook 68 prevents the finger guard preassembly from pulling away from the jamb even before the guard is secured thereto. The llexible cover flap 36 of the linger guard strip 14 is easily bent and held away from the bracket 12 so as to permit the secure fastening of the preassembled construction on the jamb by means of the threaded connectors 80 passing through suitable apertures 82 formed at the counter sink 66 of the mounting arm. The cover flap 36 may then be permitted to resume its normal rest position overlying the mounting arm 60 with its shoulder 38 contacting the face 22 of the jamb element to thereby provide a smooth, neat and pleasing exterior appearance to the installed linger guard assembly.

As will be appreciated from the foregoing detailed description, the present invention provides an improved linger guard for a sliding door panel which is also adapted for providing a weather-stripping seal. The linger guard is easily fabricated from extruded components which require a minimum of punching, cutting and drilling oper- CII ations in order to preassemble the guard prior to its installation on a door jamb. The installation is easily accomplished and results in a pleasing exterior appearance free from visible screw connectors.

As will be apparent to persons skilled in the art, various modifications and adaptations of the structure above-described will become readily apparent without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, the scope of which is defined inthe appended claims.

I claim:

1. A preassembled linger guard construction for sliding doors and the like comprising an extruded, generally rectangular mounting bracket having longitudinal side channels and an elongated linger guard strip held in interlocked engagement by the bracket, the finger guard strip having a resilient canopy and a pair of retaining flanges extending inwardly from opposite sides of the canopy at its base and being secured within the side channels of the bracket to lock the linger guard strip therein, said bracket having an elongated mounting arm projecting outwardly from a longitudinal edge thereof at substantially a right angle thereto and a longitudinally extending mounting hook spaced from the arm, said linger guard strip having an integral, elongated, exible cover liap overlying the mounting arm of the bracket.

2. The preassembled construction of claim 1 wherein the linger guard is formed of resilient rubber-like material and the canopy is an elongated semi-circular hollow dome carrying a longitudinally extending weather strip projecting outwardly therefrom.

3. The linger guard construction of claim 1 wherein the bracket is comprised of a pair of extruded aluminum plates, the mounting arm is provided with an elongated longitudinally extending counter sink facilitating installation of the preassembled construction and the mounting hook is in spaced parallel relationship to the mounting arm.

4. The linger guard construction of claim 1 wherein the bracket consists essentially of a llat retaining plate having elongated recesses along the longitudinal edges thereof and a complementary mounting plate having longitudinal recesses mating with the recesses of the retaining plate to form the side channels of the bracket, said plates being secured in intimate aligned physical contact along their entire length.

5. The linger guard construction of claim 4 wherein the retaining flanges of the linger guard have longitudinally extending terminal beads disposed within the recesses of the plates providing interference and retention of the linger guard by the bracket.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 875,870 1/1908 Wagner 49-372 1,929,494 10/1933 Horlick 49-383 X 1,991,776 2/1935 Gail 49-493 2,133,199 10/1938 Kammerer 49-488 2,230,985 2/1941 Gail 49-493 [2,663,057 12/1953 Uphol 49--493 X 2,913,783 11/1959 Bright 49-377 X 3,091,004 5/1963 Mays 49-372 3,159,885 12/1964 Cowles 49-489 X 3,324,598 6/1967 Tinfow et al 49-488 3,354,584 11/1967 Parsons 49-377 DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examiner.

P. C. KANNAN, Assistant Examiner. 

